Newsmakers

Forget It, Harold! A Wimp or Lover You Never Were

You can forget all about Harold and his infamous forgetfulness. Harold was the subject of nationwide attention last week, when about 75 signs posted in downtown Oklahoma City elevators and tunnels proclaimed: "Harold, you inconsiderate wimp. This is the LAST time you will forget our anniversary. Don't bother coming home--the locks have been changed. See you in court, Rachel." The messages, it turns out, were all part of a publicity stunt. "There is no Harold, and there is no Rachel," Renee Hendrix, owner of MemoryMinders, told the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. "We created a monster." Hendrix said that she and a friend, Bette Madore, dreamed up the characters for an advertising scheme to launch their business enterprise, a reminder service for forgetful people. Hendrix said that the note was supposed to be the first of a four-part ad campaign. The last installment, she said, would feature Harold discovering MemoryMinders and the service saving his marriage.

--Fund-raising has become a slippery business for the Rev. Jerry Falwell, board chairman of the financially troubled PTL television ministry. Falwell announced that since PTL surpassed its fund-raising goal in a "summer of survival" drive, he will keep a promise and take the plunge down the 52-foot water slide at the Heritage USA Christian theme park in Fort Mill, S.C., wearing "my navy blue suit, necktie, shoes and all. . . . I realize it may be my last sermon. I may break my fool neck, but I'm going down that water slide," Falwell told viewers of the "PTL Club" show. Falwell, who took over the PTL ministry and amusement park from evangelist Jim Bakker in March, promised in May that he would go down the slide if the fund drive was successful. Falwell said he didn't know how much money was raised, but at least $20 million had come in by Labor Day.

--Another religious figure had less happy news. The Rev. Billy Graham canceled his first tour of China, saying that he tripped over his briefcase in a dark hotel room and broke a rib last week in Japan. "This is one of the greatest disappointments of my life," Graham said in Tokyo. The 68-year-old Baptist evangelist said he hopes to reschedule the trip for next April.